A Homily - Holy Week, Maundy Thursday (Year B) A Holy Day of Obligation

First Reading – Isaiah 61:1 – 3, 6, 8 – 9 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 88(89):21 – 22, 25, 27 ©

Second Reading – Apocalypse 1:5 – 8 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Isaiah 61:1 (Luke 4:18)

The Gospel According to Luke 4:16 – 21 ©

First Reading – Exodus 12:1 – 8, 11 – 14 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 115(116):12 – 13, 15 – 18 ©

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 11:23 – 26 ©

Gospel Acclamation – John 13:34

The Gospel According to John 13:1-15 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

We should not make the mistake of celebrating Jesus as a martyr and using his murder as a vehicle to prop-up Christian vanity and pride.

Understand this!

God, the creator of the universe, God does not desire martyrs.

Jesus was not a king or a priest; we are not meant to be priests ourselves, officiants in the cult of sacrifice. Jesus was a prophet and he depicted the mission of the Church as one in which its members are servants to one another and the world.

God does not favor one nation above any other, God does not favor one person over their sister and brother. God has no special favor for any one family, tribe or nation.

The way is not found in the cult of animal sacrifice, in the slaughter of sheep and goats and bulls, or any other mode of ritual murder.

The way is found in love, in the recognition of our inherent equality before God, and the equanimity of the divine.

Rather, the way is found in justice…justice tempered by mercy, justice delivered with humility, justice that reaches for the good.

Jesus showed us the way from the outset of his ministry, and followed it to the cross on Calvary.

Be mindful.

The sacred texts cannot be a repository for our vanity, our nationalism or our jingoistic instincts.

God is a loving and merciful God, and good. God is not the lord of palace intrigues; the divine is not a god of wars and battles.

Let me reiterate:

Jesus was not a king or a general, and he was not a priest but a prophet. He came to us in friendship, as a teacher, a healer and comforter; he came to show us the way.

Consider how Jesus begins his ministry, and his intention when connecting it to the work of the Isaiah. They teach us that the way is meant to bring relief to those who suffer, give sight to the blind and freedom to those in captivity. This is true whether their blindness is physical or spiritual, whether their bondage is of this world or the next; the way is found in love.

Be mindful.

God is not a sorcerer, magician or wizard, animal sacrifice is a mode of necromancy, they are based on lies, and we must reject them.

Please do not be shocked when I tell you that there are depictions of God in the scripture, that are false, monstrous, and immoral. The cult of animal sacrifice represents the worst of these, there is no merit in it and there never was. The economy of salvation, as mediated by blood on the altar, is a vehicle of corruption and a tool of oppression, and it has always been so.

Know this!

It is unjust to punish the people for the crimes of their leaders, God does not do this, any suggestion that this might be so is a lie and must be rejected.

Justice does not divide human beings into the blessed and damned, worthy and unworthy, the ugly and beautiful. Justice is blind and grace is free, they come to us without regard to our relative merits, these are gifts we receive simply because God loves us.

Listen!

Trust in God, not men. All men are liars and all women too; but that is not important.

Take no oaths, take no vows, allow your resolve to stand in their place and be true to it, even while knowing that you will fail at many things.

Know that the promises God has made for our wellbeing (for our salvation) are not of this world, and that the expectation of justice in this world must be rooted in real relationships with real human beings. Justice in this world begins with us, and is only found through one another.

Remember this.

Throughout your days, until their end, be generous and share your table. Serve those who have less than you. Share your cup and your bread.

This is the way.

Forget the apocryphal imagery and mythological symbolism of the “Son of Man,” the cryptic words about the glory of God; in whom and how it appears. Forget those things because they are irrelevant, love one another instead.

Know this.

To follow Jesus is to lead with love; therefore love as Jesus loved. Be prepared to risk everything for love’s sake…even your life; in this way you will keep faith with Jesus, and everyone who witnesses it will see the truth of it.

There is no other way.

Faith (which is the trust we place in God); faith is not about words, it is about actions; faith is about love. Faith is not ideology, it is not partisan, it is not dogmatic, it is not doctrinaire. Faith is not a legally binding agreement. Faith is not concerned with creeds or secrets, or magic words. Faith is trust, and faith in God finds its natural expression in love.

Read the Gospel today’s Gospel carefully, read it as the authors intended it to be read, as a record of the love Jesus bore toward the world.

Keep that love in front of you, keep it always, and do this:

Forgive Judas, he is one of those about whom Jesus said to God, “Forgive them, they know not what they do.”

Do as Jesus did and pardon him, forgive Judas as you are meant to, forgive him as you are meant to forgive all who have done you harm. Forgive him when you seek forgiveness for the hurts you have caused others.

This is the way, and there is no other.

First Reading – Isaiah 61:1 – 3, 6, 8 – 9 ©

The Lord Has Anointed Me

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for the Lord has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken; to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison; to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord, a day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all those who mourn and to give them for ashes a garland; for mourning robe the oil of gladness, for despondency, praise.

But you, you will be named ‘priests of the Lord’, they will call you ‘ministers of our God.’

I reward them faithfully and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their race will be famous throughout the nations, their descendants throughout the peoples.

All who see them will admit that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 88(89):21 – 22, 25, 27 ©

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

I have found David my servant

  and with my holy oil anointed him.

My hand shall always be with him

  and my arm shall make him strong.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

My truth and my love shall be with him;

  by my name his might shall be exalted.

He will say to me: ‘You are my father,

  my God, the rock who saves me.’

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

 

Second Reading – Apocalypse 1:5 – 8 ©

Jesus Christ Has Made Us a Line of Kings and Priests

Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the First-Born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. It is he who is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. This is the truth. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’ says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Isaiah 61:1 (Luke 4:18)

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor.

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

 

Gospel Luke 4:16 – 21 ©

The Spirit of the Lord Has Been Given to Me, for He Has Anointed Me

Jesus came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

 

First Reading – Exodus 12:1 – 8, 11 – 14 ©

The Passover is a Day of Festival for All Generations, for Ever

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

  ‘This month is to be the first of all the others for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, “On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock, one for each family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small to eat the animal, a man must join with his neighbour, the nearest to his house, as the number of persons requires. You must take into account what each can eat in deciding the number for the animal. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may take it from either sheep or goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a passover in honour of the Lord. That night, I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever.”’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 115(116):12 – 13, 15 – 18 ©

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

How can I repay the Lord

  for his goodness to me?

The cup of salvation I will raise;

  I will call on the Lord’s name.

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

O precious in the eyes of the Lord

  is the death of his faithful.

Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;

  you have loosened my bonds.

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;

  I will call on the Lord’s name.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfil

  before all his people.

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

 

Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 11:23 – 26 ©

Every Time You Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup, You Are Proclaiming the Death of the Lord

This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 13:34

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

I give you a new commandment:

love one another just as I have loved you, says the Lord.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

 

The Gospel According to John 13:1 – 15 ©

Now He Showed How Perfect His Love Was

It was before the festival of the Passover, and Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. He had always loved those who were his in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was.

They were at supper, and the devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, and he got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘Never!’ said Peter ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’ ‘Then, Lord,’ said Simon Peter ‘not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus said, ‘No one who has taken a bath needs washing, he is clean all over. You too are clean, though not all of you are.’ He knew who was going to betray him, that was why he said, ‘though not all of you are.’

When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.’

 

Holy Week, Maundy Thursday (Year B) A Holly Day of Obligation